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Environment Secretary Michael Gove has today announced a strengthening of the law and additional funds to ensure the UK’s fishing industry prospers after Brexit.

The Government will table an amendment to the Fisheries Bill to secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities for UK fishermen.

The amendment would place a legal obligation on the Secretary of State, when negotiating a fisheries agreement with the EU, to pursue what is seen as a fairer share of fishing opportunities than the UK currently receives under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

This would overhaul the current system which is based on fishing patterns from the 1970s. On average between 2012 and 2016 other EU member states’ vessels landed in the region of 760,000 tonnes of fish (£540 million revenue) annually caught in UK waters; whereas UK vessels landed approximately 90,000 tonnes of fish (£110 million revenue) caught in other member states’ waters per year in the same time period.

As well as strengthening the law, the Environment Secretary announced £37.2 million of extra funding to boost the UK fishing industry during the Implementation Period.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “We are taking back control of our waters and will secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities for the whole of the UK fishing industry as we leave the EU. The amendment to the Fisheries Bill will give legal weight to this commitment.

“New funding will boost the industry as we become an independent coastal state, preparing it to receive a greater share of future fishing opportunities.”